Well as mentioned in the article, the apple TV preceded all. but it wasn't a device that offered HD play via 'sneakcasting'. Maybe there were devices that preceded the WD TV in that functionality, but that box basically ushered in the whole damn usb-based HD media play into the limelight, since it was backed by such a prestigious manufacturer. And Hemanth, I had a factual error about the 2007 date, which I redacted...so stop rubbing it in. And the Iomega screenplay u sighted could not read H364 files. It simply upscales regular sd divx/wmv to 1080i pretty much like any hdmi equipped dvd player. A friend of mine has that device, but uses it as a regular external hdd and hooks it to the USB jack of his telly.
@Hemanth if you're frustrated by half-baked articles, then take up the initiative and write , instead of lamenting here. I openly invite you to write on dazeinfo.com (fill out the join us form and you'll get an authoring uid & pwd) Like the Mahatma once said "Be the change you want to see in the world"